Driving mechanism



Sept 15, I 925.

l,553,957 T. A. PATTERSON DRIVING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 1 1924 2Sheets-Shet 1 Isl m Sept. 15, 1925. ,553,957 4 T. .A. PATTERSON DRIVINVMECHANISM mod Nv. o 1924 2 Sheets-Shaet 2 Patented Sept. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES rHoMAs A. PATTEESON, 0:1? CLINTONVILLE, Wiscons n DRIVINGMECHANISM.

Application filed November 10, 1924. Serial No. 748334.

To all whom .it may conccrn:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. PATTER: soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Clintonville, in the County of aupaca and Stateof WVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful lmproveinents inDriving Mechanism; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof.

This invention relates to improvenients in driving niech anism and whileit is applicable to a large number of different types of drivingmechanism it is primarly intended for a driving nechanism actuated fromthe transmission of an automobile ;and cooperating therewith to transmitpower te .other portions of the ,automobila such for eX- ample thespeedometer.

'Objects of this invention are to provide a driving mechanism which maybe applied to existing types of automobiles to adapt the machine for aspeedometer drive directly from the transmission, 'in which a portion ofthe driving mechanism is held in place by means already on thetransmission, and in which a very simple means has been provided fortaking up wear or backlash and i guarding against slackness or loosenessin the mechanism.

Further objects are to provide driving mechanism which requires a verysin-all al teration in the ti'ansmission to permit its use, which isvery easily assembled, and which may be applied to the transnission byan unskilled operator without requiring the services of a machinist andwithout requiring special tools.

Further objects are to provide a drivng mechanism` which is both'inexpensive to make and inexpensive to keep in repair even after greatlength of service, and which is strong, simple and durable;

An e'nbodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying dia-wings,in which :e-

Fignre lis a fragmentary view of a transmission case showing the drivingmechanism in place.

Figure '2 isa sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 -3 of Figur 2, such viewomitting the transnission case for the sake of clearnes's.

Fi gure 4 is a sectional View through the driving ring geara i i iFigure 5 is a View 'of the driving gear as it appears detached from ;themechanismi For the purpose of illustration, the device has been shownapplied to the transmission of a certain make of car, but it is obvio usthat it may be applied to other types of transmssion and to other typesof, mechansm. However, to simplify the disclosure, the description willbe confined to the exact showing although, as stated, it is to beunderstood that this disclosure is one of many embodiments of theinvention. i

Referrng to the drawings, it will be seen that a transmission casing 1such as emp loyed in cars co mmerc-ally known as Fords is disclosecl.This e transmission casing houses the driving shaft 2, the clutch 3, theclntch control cell-ar i and the clutch spring 5, together with other*Intechanism omitted for the sake of clear'ness. This transmission casngis provided with a cover plate. However in practising this invention the:cover plate is replaced by the specially tormed cover plate 6 (seeFigures 1, 2 and 3.) This cover plate is held in place by the usual srews 7, suitable apertures being provided for such screws. It is to benoted, however, that the up per right hand aperture 8 is merely acircilar hole and the entire cover plate is adapted to pivot slightlyaboutthe corresponding screw\ 7. All of the other apertures, asindicated at '9, are slotted so as toaccommodate this pivotal motion fora purpose hereinafter to be described.

This cover pla te is provided with a channel like depression 10 which isequipped with a slanting bottom wall and with a transverse end wall ll.This end wall is apertured and receives the hearing 12 for the flexibleshaft, such hearing being of the conventional type and provided with acollar 13 adapted to be clamped against the wall 11 by means .of theclamping nut 14:, .as shown in Figure 2. It is to be notedthat the plate6 may be stamped from sheet metal in a very simple and cheap manner, andthat due .to the angularly ofl'set wall 11,\ it is possible to readilyclamp the sleeve or hearing directly to such offset wall by means of thenut 14:, thus producing a very cheap, simple, and easily assembledconstruction. The fiexible shaft is, of course, carried within a'housing 15 in the usual manner and such fiexible shaft is provided atits lowermost end with a spiral pinion 16. This spiral pinion ispreferably formed of fiber, rawhide, ,phenol condensation products ?orof' other :similar material, although in vcertain cases itmay be made ofmetal. It has been found, however, in extensive tests that a spiralpinion made of the material such as described, is substantiallynoiseless and also has a very long life. The pinion 16, as is clearlyshown in Figur-e 3, is held inplace by means of a nut 17, such nut beinglocked against inadvertent rotation in. any suit# able manner, as bymeans of a split pin and notches for instance, although suchconventional lockingmeans has been omitted from the drawing as they arewell known. 1`he purp se of providing the nut 17 is to permit .the readyrenewal of the pinion 16, although from actual tests the pinion willlast for anindefinite period.

The remaining portion of the drive mechanism comprises a ring 'gear 18which is providedwith spiral teeth or threads meshing with the teeth ofthe pinion 16; The pitch of the respective teeth is preferably soarranged that the pinion runs at a relatively low rate of speed undernormally operating conditions. e

The ring gear 18, as will be seen from Figures 4 and 5, is provided with'a rearwardly 'extending cylindrical portion' 19 which is provided witha plurality of cutout portions 20. This cylindrical part 19 of the ringgear is provided with an'inwardly extending flange 21. It is to beparticularly noted'that the ringgear 18' is 'ormed in two parts, and theadjacent ends of the parts are in each case joined by means of a tongue22 which extends between a pair of tongues 23. These pins are allapertured and a split pin QA is passed through the apertures to thuslock the component parts of the ring gear rigidly together. i

In applying the device to existing types of automobiles, it is merelynecessary to pry the rear end of the spring 5 away from the flange ofthe clutch spring support 25 (see Figure 2.) This may be readily done bymeans of an. ordinary screw driver, for instance. Thereafter, one-halfof the split ring gear is slipped into place with one of the apertu res24; accommodating the screw driver, and this portion of the gear ispressed downwardly until the flange 21 thereof is located between therear end of the spring 5 and the flange 25 of the fixed collar or springsupport, as shown in Figure 2. l hereafter, the drive shaft 2 is rturned-'half 'way over and the'other half of the ring gear 18 is slippedinto position I in a similar manner.- The split pins 24 are then passedthrough the apertured lugs 22 and 23, as shown in Figure 4', thuslooking the Component parts of the ring gear rigidly together, v A J I 1It is to be 'particularly noted that the clutch spring fits beneath themajor portion of the ring gear and that its rear end holds the flange 21of the ring gear tightly bound against the flange 25 of the fixed collaror clutch spring support, as shown in Figure 2.

It will be seen, therefore, that the ring gear may be applied by anyonewithout requiring either the use of special tools or the services of amachinist, and that after such ring gear has been placed, as described,that it will be most rigidly held in place by the usual clutch spring 5.

i Thereafter, the cover plate 6 is positioned and Secured by means ofthe screws 7 with the pinion 16 meshing with the ring gear 18. It willbe seen that the most exact adjustment 'may be readily secured byrocking the plate about thepivot screw which passes through the aperture8 in` the upperright hand corner oi' the plate 6 (see Figure 1). Thegears may therefore be correctly aoljusted for perfect intermeshing.

Further, it is to bei noted that any wear that may takeplace between thegears' may be most readily cared for by a justment of the plate 6. i e

Itwill thus be seen that a drive mechanism has been provided which is of'extreme Simplicity, of rugged construction,

similar adand which may be most accurately and easily applied toexisting types of machines with a minimum of change.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it'is to be understood that the invention may 'be variously embodied andis, therefo're, to be limited only as claimed. i

Iclaim:

1. In an automobile the combinaton of a drive shaft having a clutchspring thereon, a support against which said'sprng normally bears, asplit ring gear surrounding said shaft and clamped between said supportand said spring, a housing for said drive shaft, said housing 'having anaperture therethrough, a plate'adapted to close said aperture and havinga hearing thereon, a driven shaft c'arried within said bearing, and apinion carried by' said shaft and I adapted to mesh with said gear whensaid plate is' in position,'said plate having apertures therein adaptedto receive securng means for'attaching it'tosaid casing, certain ofsaidaperturesbeing elongated to permit adjustment'of said plate. i

2. In an automobile'the'combination of a transmission casing having anaperture tures, securng meansextending through said apertures and intosaidcasing, certain of said apertures beingelongatedfor adjustment ofsaid plate, a hearing clamped to said plate, a driven shaft carried bysaid bearing and projecting through said plate, a helical pinion oarriedby the lower end of said driven shaft and adapted to mesh with said ringgear.

3. In an automobile the combination of a casing having an aperturetherein, a driving shaft mounted within said casing, a split ringhelical gear carried by said shaft, a closure plate for said aperture,said plate having a plurality of marginal apertures, one of saidapertures being circular and the remaining -apertures being elongated,securing means passing through said apertures, a bearing carried by saidplate, a driven shaft journaled in said bearng, and a helical pinioncarried by the lower end of said driven shaft and adapted to mesh withsaid ring gear, said plate being adapted to pivot about said circularaperture, whe'eby said pinion may be accurately adjusted relatively tosaid ring gear.

4. In an automobile, the combnatio-n of a oasng having an openng theren,a drive shaft wthn said casng and havng a olutch spring thereon, asleeve surrounding said shaft and having a fiange against which saidspring normally bears, a ring gear having a flange elamped between saidspring and* said first mentioned flange, a plate olosing the opening insaid casing and having an angularly oflset Wall, a threaded sleevepassing through said Wall, a nut screwed upon said sleeve and clampingsaid sleeve to said wall, a driven shaft passing through said sleeve,and a pnon carried by said driven shaft and meshing With said ring gear.i

In testinony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand atClinton- Ville, in the county of YVaupaea and State of Wisconsin.

rHoMAs A, PATTERSON.

